


Start My Fire (I Will Roar)

by orphan_account



Series: It All Started Long Ago [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV), The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: A Little Dash of Angst To Spice Things Up, Boyd Thinks You're an Idiot, Brief Mentions of Pedophilia, Bullying, Derek Is Protective, Derek Really Likes Stiles and His Gang but They Don't Know It Cause He Doesn't Tell Them, Erica Is Super Megan Fox Sexy Levels of Hot, Erica and Stiles are bros, F/M, Humor, Isaac is adorable, It Becomes Clear That the Only Heroes of Olympus Character the Author Cares about Is Leo, Jackson Is a Douchebag, Leo Is a Fire Starter! Except He Spends Most of His Time Angsting about It, Lydia Martin Is Being Awesome Offscreen, M/M, Panic Attacks, S'mores!, Scott Is a Satyr, Scott and Allison Are SO Sappy, Scott is a Good Friend, Stiles Delivers Well Deserved Verbal Lashings, Stiles Is Sometimes a Huge Asshole, Stiles and Leo Were MADE for Each Other, The Author Enjoyed Tagging This Plotless Bit of Fluff (If You Couldn't Tell), The Author Enjoyed Writing This Plotless Bit of Fluff, They'll Fall in Love If I have To Force Them To Make Out, pun intended
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2013-09-03
Packaged: 2017-12-22 05:06:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/909264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“So, ah, sorry for, you know, all the stalking. And stuff.” Stiles is just so smooth. </p><p>Leo scratches the back of his head. “It’s fine. You weren’t being creepy or anything, and I stalk people on accident too, like girls I like. Oh god – bad comparison – I mean, I don’t think you like me! Not that anything’s would be wrong with that!” The word vomit is coming out at a speed that even Stiles is impressed with.  “And I don’t like you. I mean, I like you, but I could like you more. You know, someday.” Suddenly, Stiles feels better about himself as a person.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Can Hold My Breath

**Author's Note:**

> So my thought process for making this fic: Stiles and Leo are two of my favorite sarcastic, self-deprecating teenagers. They have a ton in common (I made a Venn Diagram and everything). They’re both totally awesome. You know what’d make them more awesome? If they were in a fic together. 
> 
> And then they became my crossover OTP. I’m calling it Steo. This is basically going to be a plot-less excuse for me to write their epic romance.
> 
> After that, I was like “How are they even going to meet?” Firstly I just thought about meshing their worlds together, but that would have been too much work. Then I thought, “Screw it I’ll just shove all the Teen Wolf characters into Camp-Half Blood and ignore the plot of The Lost Hero.” So that’s what I did. Actually, I’m not really sure if this fits in the Heroes of Olympus canon at all. Like, there’s no Jason ‘cause he’s in Camp Jupiter (and because he’s so boring that I don’t want to write him).
> 
> Enjoy! Title is from “Turn Me On” by The Grates. I thought it was appropriate. 
> 
> (Please read the tags for possible trigger warnings and turn offs. Though this fic is really pretty tame. Though there’s a ton of cussing, if that bothers you.)

That’s it, Stiles is done with trying to impress Lydia. He’s probably the only kid in the injury-prone Camp Half-Blood who’s actually been burned by the climbing wall more than four times. In one week. (Yeah, the wall can burn people, because the designers had decided that rock climbing wasn’t fun without _lava_. Lava that will burn you if you don’t climb fast enough. Stiles kept getting distracted by the knobs that looked like faces.)

Lydia Martin is simply perfection in human form, but there are some levels of humiliation that even Stiles is not willing to wallow in. Even if it is for her and her special strawberry blonde brand of magic. Oh, and Stiles isn’t exaggerating. Lydia is the daughter of Hecate, goddess of magic and whimsy, which pretty much makes her a bonafide witch. When Stiles had found out, he’d asked her where her broom was. Lydia hadn’t found the joke all that funny.

Look, the thing is, Lydia is flawless, doesn’t have charm speak but still manages to get everyone to do her bidding, and could have (you know, in the carnal sense) anyone in the entire camp. And she went after Jackson.

Jackson’s probably the biggest asshat in the world. Like, his arrogance and douchnozzle-ery have probably joined The Great Wall of China as man-made objects that can be viewed from space. What does Lydia even see in him? Besides the underwear model body. (What? Stiles has eyes!) And like, if they got married (all the sweet gods - whom Stiles will sacrifice delicious food to - forbid), then Lydia would have a bunch of Nemesis kids for relatives. Like Matt. Who’s just freakin’ creepy. 

Of course, if she married Stiles (which he used to be 100% convinced was going to happen – he loses faith every passing day) she would have the Stoll brothers for in laws. The Hermes cabin has a few loose screws, himself included. 

So Stiles has been pining from afar, Cyrano de Bergerac style, for four years. It’s getting a bit old. He’s starting to feel like he should get a new lease on life. Find a hobby or something. Anything that doesn’t require him to show up, shame-faced, in Deaton’s office at the Big House, asking to be treated for burn wounds. (And last month, it was hornet stings. And before that… yeah, Stiles just doesn’t want to dwell on that right now. Basically, he’s been seeing Deaton a lot.)

And Deaton has a Forehead of Judgment and eyebrows that make you feel like crawling into a corner and questioning all your life choices. 

At the moment, Deaton’s saying nothing – loudly – while bandaging Stiles’ wounds.

He finishes and looks Stiles in the eyes. “You should be glad that you haven’t yet suffered any injury to your face, Mr. Stilinski.” And now there’s a pointed stare. This guy and his dad would make a formidable team, able to stare down monsters and teenagers alike.

Stiles clears his throat. “Well, since I don’t think the universe could bear the loss of my handsome mug, I’ll be more careful in the future?” Okay, his heart wasn’t really in that one.

“Yes. I’m sure you will be more careful, or soon you’ll have more than just accidents to watch out for.” Okay. Vague threats. Stiles can deal. By pulling his shirt on and running out of the building. Without saying thank you. Yeah, he’s gonna avoid Deaton for as long as possible. Knowing his track record, that’ll be about a day.

It’s still midmorning (damn camp forces him to keep an early schedule), so there’s a while ‘til lunch. He missed the first part of his cabin’s sword practice session at eleven, so he just sort of skips the rest. Hey, it’s not like anyone’s going to miss him. Stiles doesn’t mean to brag or anything, but has a reputation. He is known by all as _the_ worst sword fighter in the entire camp, possibly in demigod history. It’s a source of pride for him in his darkest moments. Besides, he’s (almost) seventeen now – on the crisp of adulthood, one of the ones who survived through hell. Seriously, if people think being a normal teenager is bad, try being a monster magnet. One who screams ‘PLEASE EAT ME’ at already bloodthirsty creatures of the night. You get a bit of a pass about class work when you make it through that. 

Instead of awkwardly joining the practice late, he jogs into the woods, looking for Scott.

Scott his best buddy in the whole wide world. Actually, Stiles is a little surprised that they became friends, considering the fact that he’d called Scott Mr. Tumnus for weeks after meeting him. Luckily, Scott is very forgiving. That’s a part of why Stiles likes him so much.

Scott’s a Satyr, a faun, a normal dude but with horns growing out of his head and the hind courters of a goat. Stiles had, has, and always will have _so_ many jokes. But he reins them in, because that’s what BFFs do. 

Scott was an important part of Stiles _finding his place_ at the camp and shit. When he’d first come, he’d been reeling from finding out he was adopted and was only half-human. (At least it had explained his shitty first name. Nobody would be cruel enough to name their child Eurestos for no reason.) Part of him had been throwing a party because _he was totally like a comic book hero now and stuff_ , but the rest of him had felt jittery and empty. His mom had only died a year before, and now he found out that he’d been lied to. His real dad was a god who’d just done it with some lady who’d immediately put him up for adoption after his birth. He had to go to camp because if he didn’t, he’d put the dad who actually raised him in danger. And he sucked at pretty much all camp activities that weren’t learning Greek and some of the art projects.

 _Some_ of the art projects. He’s pretty sure that the rest of his beginner’s art class is still traumatized from The Jackhammer Incident of ’09. 

But Scott had taken him under his metaphorical wing and given him a friend. Someone he could hang out with. Someone he could whine to. Someone he could play pranks both with and on.

Stiles isn’t really sure where most of the satyrs hang out during the day, but he definitely knows where Scott’ll be. Scott has recently beaten Stiles out on getting a girlfriend. (Well, Scott’s like thirty or something, but satyr’s age about half as fast, so they’re about the same maturity at least.) Allison is a White Birch Tree dryad, and she and Scott are ridiculously adorable together. No seriously, Stiles thinks he’s going to get type 2 diabetes from their sweetness. At any given time, Scott is likely to be found in at least a fifty-feet distance from her grove, despite her scary-ass parents. (Yeah, dryads can be scary. Stiles learned that lesson after crossing Allison’s mom one too many times. Never has he feared for his life so fervently.)

As he predicted, Scott is flirting with Allison. Both of them are laughing, and Allison is throwing leaves at Scott. They look like a commercial for sporting goods, with their ridiculously attractive faces and all. Well, minus Allison’s somewhat bark-y skin and Scott’s… _Must repress urge to mock._

One of Scott’s ears twitches as Stiles trips and rights himself (which he totally did on purpose to catch their attention, okay?). He turns away from Allison and smiles widely, running over to give Stiles a hug.

“Dude, you smell like burritos,” Stiles says around the air getting squeezed out of his body. 

“Yeah.” Scott blinks and releases his hold on Stiles, who gasps in air. “I had one for breakfast.” And then he remembers that his princess-like girlfriend is still present and looks a bit sheepish, but Allison just smiles knowingly. 

“I could taste them in your mouth,” she says teasingly.

Stiles just sighs, because he long ago gave up telling them not to over share. Maybe it’s a cultural thing or something.

“So what’ve you been up to?” Allison asks him. Stiles really likes her because he never feels like a third wheel around them. She’s not the type to hog Scott’s attention (even if he wants her to) and she effortlessly includes Stiles in everything. He can definitely see why Scott worships the ground she glides around like a fairy on.

“I’ve given up trying to impress Lydia,” he announces, because they’ve pretty much heard every gruesome detail of his tragically unrequited love for the angel, so why not tell them this.

“Wow man. Are you over her?” Scott asks, because he’s an awesome friend.

Stiles shakes his head mournfully. “No, I’ve just given up.” To change the topic, he asks Scott, “So did you see Jackson get decked in the face by Derek the other day?” From there, the conversation drifts to more appealing venues.

After about thirty minutes, the lunch bell rings, and Scott is forced to hurry his usual goodbye to Allison down to only three minutes.

They’re still late to lunch.

*****

Stiles spent most of the rest of the day with Scott, but after dinner, Scott goes on his own way, back to the glen and possibly Allison. Stiles decides to go to the camp fire that night because he hasn’t gone in a while.

He doesn’t sing because he really doesn’t want anyone here going deaf but he does hum under his breath while looking around the circle.

He waves at Derek, who’s sitting stiffly in the back, looking like he got dragged here. Derek inclines his head in return, which is fairly standard Derek communication. He’s probably the oldest demigod in this whole place, which Stiles firmly believes is because he’s secretly immortal. (I mean, the guy gets stabbed on a regular basis.) He sometimes wanders around the country aimlessly, killing monsters in badass ways and finding young demigods, but he also stays at Camp Half-Blood a lot. Most of the campers in their twenties move on. Stiles is pretty sure there's a story there, but he doesn't know it. 

Derek is an Ares kid, though he stays in the Big House now. Stiles had been surprised when he found out, because he’s much less of an asshole than most of Cabin 5. He’s more… broody. Seriously, Stiles thinks he’d get along really well with Nico di Angelo. Derek was actually the one who’d found Stiles and brought him to camp in the first place. He’d been twelve then and neither him nor his dad had known anything about the supernatural. So yeah. Stiles had become convinced that the leather jacket dude who stared at him from across parking lots was a serial killer/pedophile. Fun times.

Eventually (after Dad had pulled his gun on Derek when he found him trespassing and had started using his Scary Cop Tone), the whole mess had been sorted out. No, Derek was not a predator, he was just straight out mythology. Like Stiles.

Thinking back on it, that whole experience musta really sucked for Derek. He got to deal with an overprotective dad and his completely spastic, emotionally overwrought son. Stiles should be glad he even gets nodded at.

Hanging around him are the younger campers he’s befriended, probably the people who dragged him to the fire for a night of torturous social interaction. Erica is smiling at Stiles a little. She’s an Aphrodite girl with the meanest charm speak of anyone Stiles has ever met. She got Jackson (who usually manages to shirk any chores) to clean the toilets. Stiles saw it happen. That was the best day of his life. The dumbstruck look on his face…

Despite their epic friendship now, he and Erica got off to a rough start. She was another kid Derek found, a year ago. She’d been charmed by a harpy who was pissed with Aphrodite so that her powers couldn’t manifest. Her godliness was suppressed which resulted in seizures and other medical complications. Derek broke the charm, which had kinda made Erica go a bit crazy. And by crazy he means bitchy. 

Sure, she was experiencing freedom after fifteen years of suck, but seriously? Charm speaking Scott into dumping Allison was a low move.

Eventually, Chiron had actually stepped in to stop her from using her powers to destroy free will. After a few weeks, Erica had apologized to anyone she’d hurt and she and Stiles had become fairly close since then.

She also made friends with an Apollo kid, Isaac, and a Hephaestus kid, Boyd. Stiles doesn’t know either of them that well, but they’re always hanging around Derek. Isaac’s sitting on the other side of Derek, singing along to “Call Me Maybe” (the Aphrodite cabin’s choice). He yawns a little and slumps to rest against Derek’s shoulder. It’s freaking adorable. You’d never guess that the guy can throw knives like nobody’s business. 

Boyd’s sitting farther off, next to another kid from his cabin, Leo Valdez. He doesn’t know much about Boyd beyond his obvious crush on Erica (thus continuing the pattern of Hephaestus kids falling children of Aphrodite), but he spent about a week last year stalking Leo.

Okay, well _stalking_ is a strong word. He was just curious. He was fifteen! He hadn’t thought of it as stalking at the time.

But Chiron sure had. 

Anyway, the point is Stiles is really interested in Leo. He’s funny and geeky and laughs at Stiles’ jokes, but any attempt on Stiles’ part to try to get closer to him is met with a blank wall.

For someone so outgoing, he’s a bit of a loner. As in, he only has one friend, a girl named Piper from Aphrodite. He doesn’t really seem to have much of a crush on her, though. They were friends before they even knew they were demigods, which is pretty weird. 

Outside of her, Leo doesn’t really seem to get close to anyone, not even his cabinmates (though Stiles can sympathize – Leo’s pretty dissimilar from most of the Hephaestus cabin, considering that they’re all stoic and he’s all ‘let’s party people!’). The main thing they have in common is their amazing workmanship. Stiles seriously loves all the stuff Leo makes – another reason he’s interested in him.

So Stiles had decided to make Leo his mission a while back. In a good way! He knew from personal experience that it sucked not having any friends. From the time he’d spent following him around, he could tell Leo was lonely. He had just been trying to be friendly.

That hadn’t ended well.

So Stiles is surprised when Leo notices him staring and doesn’t scream and run in the opposite direction. In fact, he smiles at him.

It’s a good look on him. He looks a little like a naughty Latino elf.

Oh shit. Is he waving Stiles over now? Is this a thing that’s happening? 

What’s the etiquette for greeting people you were stalking? ‘Hey, I know the color of your underwear’? Not that Stiles does. He wasn’t that kind of stalker.

Stiles goes for something a little more subtle as he plunks down next to him. “So what’s shaking?” He is just so smooth. 

Leo licks his lips. “Me, at the very idea of another trilogy of _Star Wars_ movies.” Luckily for Stiles, Leo is equally as smooth.

“You think Chiron will let us out for the first one?” Stiles fires back without thought. This kind of banter is just second nature to him, though he doubts this is really why Leo called him over.

“Does it make a difference?” Leo asks with a grin of the shit-eating variety. Oh yeah, Stiles is down with this.

“Not as far as I can tell. Though if we got caught, we’d probably regret it into our thirties.”

“It’ll be worth it if they’re even a margin better than the prequels, and it’d be hard to top that pinnacle of awful,” Leo says fiercely. Stiles nods sagely in agreement.

And then there’s silence. _Oh awkward silence, my old friend, it’s been a while. How’ve you been?_

When Stiles just can’t take it anymore (like, five seconds in. What? Talking is Stiles in his natural habitat) he blurts, “So, ah, sorry for, you know, all the stalking. And stuff.”

Leo scratches the back of his head. “It’s fine. You weren’t being creepy or anything, and I do it on accident too, to the girls I like. Oh god – bad comparison – I mean, I don’t think you like me! Not that anything’s would be wrong with that!” The word vomit is coming out at a speed that even Stiles is impressed with. “And I don’t like you. I mean, I like you, but I could like you more. You know, someday.” Suddenly, Stiles feels better about himself as a person.

Before he can say anything in reply to that (what could he possibly have said to that? He understands what his dad must have gone through now, he truly does), he hears Erica laughing. Loudly. At them.

Seriously, was everyone listening in to their conversation? Does privacy still exist? (And then he remembers the stalking.)

But yeah, they’re getting stared at big time. Even Derek looks a bit disgusted at their conversation (how could he hear that from over there??? ) and he’s Mr. I-only-communicate-with-my-eyebrows. 

Stiles does his best to look unaffected and flips them off. Erica just laughs harder, but all of them go back to pretending they’re not listening in, so Stiles counts it as a win.

Stiles turns back to Leo, clearing his throat. “Well. That’s good.”

“Yeah.”

Then more silence. Awesome.

“Soooo. You wanna hang out some time? I have comics. First edition Deadpool man.” That’s bound to win him over.

But Leo’s face clouds over, and right there, that is why Stiles is so preoccupied with him. Why would anyone as awesome as Leo be so closed off? 

Leo ducks his head and mumbles, “Maybe” before getting up and running away from Stiles, like he’s literally allergic to having relationships. Stiles stares after him mournfully.

“You're both idiots,” Stiles hears and looks over at Boyd who is wearing one of the most unimpressed faces he’s ever seen. “Though for once, it’s not actually you being the biggest dumbass Stilinski.” Boyd snorts and gets up to follow after Leo.

“I resent that,” Stiles yells at his back, because why not? And now he’s sitting by himself awkwardly. Wonderful.

That problem is solved for him by Erica coming over and plopping herself down in the space Boyd had occupied. “Come on, roast a s’more with me,” she says.

“I have no idea how you’re managing to make that sound like an innuendo,” he replies, but gets up and follows her closer to the fire to grab some marshmallows. 

“So do I need to punch Lydia for breaking your fragile little heart again?” she asks as she skewers a marshmallow. Aggressively. Stiles can add threatening marshmallow impalement to the list of weird shit he’s seen in his life.

“Nope.” Stiles lowers his own marshmallow into the fire. “No need to defend my honor.”

Erica purses her lips. “If you say so.”

When they’ve finished assembling their s’mores, they head back to their seats and dig in. Stiles catches like fifty separate guys staring as Erica licks chocolate off her fingers. Then they turn their eyes to him and glare their jealousy. Stiles just smiles smugly.

“You know,” Erica says casually, “Leo was lying when he said he didn’t like you, because he really, _really_ does,” and Stiles chokes on his graham cracker.

He splutters, “What – how – ?” before figuring that speaking is probably a hazard to his health and he should forgo it. (Yeah right.)

She smirks. “I’m an Aphrodite girl. I can always tell.” Luckily she flounces away before Stiles can ask if that means she knows Boyd likes her. That probably wouldn’t have ended well.

So Stiles just stares into the fire until sing-along time is over. He watches absently as Derek sighs and leads a bleary-eyed Isaac away (still adorable) and the rest of his cabin leaves. 

Well. Tonight was a night of revelations.

*****

When he actually thinks about it, he feels like he could really be interested as well. Leo is nice and fun and they have a lot in common, and Stiles ain’t exactly straight as an arrow. He’s more of an equal opportunity lover. And when he’s being honest with himself, he knows not many people are ready to jump on the Stilinski train. He should be open to options. But he does his best to forget about what Erica said, because honestly nothing can really come of it if Leo won’t even talk to him for extended periods of time.

Of course that doesn’t work out, though, because this is his life.

“So I heard you and Leo have something going on,” Scott says when they meet up at lunch the next day.

“Okay then. No ‘Hey Stiles, how are you?’ You’re just jumping right into that?”

Scott nods and smiles, unrepentant. “Yep.”

Stiles sighs. “Well, for your information, nothing is going on between me and Leo. Okay? God, how did you even hear about this?”

He shrugs. “Word travels.”

Stiles shakes his head. “Let’s just get some food.”

*****

He’s completely prepared to move on from the debacle, but the universe has other ideas for his life.

“Guys seriously, we can talk this through rationally – I can tell you’re very rational people, except for maybe that dude – agh, people, this isn’t funny! I really hate water, okay, it’s my kryptonite. Just please stop!”

Stiles was just taking a walk, minding his own business, and of course he comes across a bunch of jerkass Ares kids trying to throw Leo in the lake. Why? Why is this his life?

Before he can get over and do something about it (like what? Politely ask them to stop? All the Ares kids are like ten times his size! Stiles is practically on a quest to get his ass handed to him), they manage to dump Leo in the lake, then stand around laughing and congratulating each other like Leo isn’t currently having a panic attack right in front of them.

God Stiles hates bullies. 

It’s really not like Leo’s gonna drown – it’s the shallow part of the lake – but the poor kid's really freaking out. Welp. Looks like it’s hero time.

Stiles kicks his tennis shoes off and runs straight into the water. He drags Leo to a standing position by his elbow, pulls him out of the lake and leaves him stretched out on the shore.

Now would be the time to cut his losses, make sure Leo is okay, and hightail it out of there, but at this point he’s really pissed. 

He just glares at the assholes for a moment, thinking up a response that’ll express his anger. He used to have panic attacks a lot, and it’s really not as cute at they think it is to give someone else one. As he opens his mouth, the biggest guy, probably the leader, jeers over at Leo, “Aw, is little mechanic boy afraid of a little water?” and Stiles is just done.

“Listen up, jerkwads, ‘cause this needs to get through your thick as molasses brains. You’re pathetic. You’re so pathetic and insecure that you need to shove other people around to feel good about yourself at night after you finish jerking off to your Macy’s catalogue. Did mommy not love you? Does your big brother make fun of you? I’m sure you’ve all got some pathetic sob story as an excuse for your pathetic behavior, but frankly I don’t give a damn. Piss off.”

They actually look a little uneasy, and some of the guys towards the back even look ashamed of themselves. They aren’t monsters, Stiles reminds himself.

“Yeah,” the leader with the cleft chin (if Stiles remembers correctly, his name is Quince, so maybe that’s where his anger issues stem from) sneers. “What’re you gonna do about it? Tell Chiron? Get us swatted with a ruler? Oh no, what will I do without my desert privilege?” he says in a false soprano.

“Maybe I’ll mention it to Derek,” Stiles says thoughtfully. They all pale at that. Derek is pretty well known for dealing out punishments for dick behavior (i.e. punching Jackson in the face for being an asshole to an adorable Iris kid), especially from his own cabin. It’s really nice to know the guy, even in passing. Derek is surprisingly protective of people. Like, on their way to camp when Stiles was twelve, he’d literally beat the shit out of a guy who’d _actually_ been a predator trying to kidnap him. Stiles really isn’t above using his name to get him the hell out of this situation.

The bullies back off, leaving Stiles with a still hyperventilating Leo. Great. Now he feels like an asshole for not taking care of him sooner.

He sits down next to him, decides not to think about it too hard, and starts running his hand up and down his back. He’s just rotely doing what his dad used to do for him – whispering nonsense, providing human contact – but it seems to be working.

Eventually, Leo’s breathing evens out and he looks up from the dirt he’d been staring at. His face is tear stained and he looks utterly wrecked, but he manages a wry smile and Stiles’ heart clinches a little. 

“So how many man points do you think I lost just now? I only have like two at the moment.”

Stiles smiles back, trying to be encouraging but probably landing at douche. “I don’t know, but if you lose man points for having panic attacks, I probably have like negative bleventeen.”

Leo’s eyes go round. “You watch _Gravity Falls_?” Then he shakes his head a little. “I mean, you have panic attacks?”

“Yes and yes.” Stiles grimaces. “Especially when I first found out I was a demigod.” He’s not going to mention the dead mother aspect.

Well, at least Leo looks a little cheered at that. But he still looks a little embarrassed, which is stupid. “Dude,” Stiles starts, “the people who should be embarrassed are the Ares campers, okay? Especially the big one? You know, the one with a butt for a chin?”

Leo giggles at that. “It did look like a butt. If we start calling him ‘butt-face,’ do you think it’ll stick?”

“We won’t know until we try it out.”

Both Stiles and Leo make to rise, and their faces come so close together Stiles can count his eyelashes. He kinda wants to lean forward and press his lips against Leo’s chapped ones, if only to lose his kiss virginity (well, that’s really not the reason at all, but it feels better to tell himself that). But before he can do anything, Leo jerks away violently. 

Wow, mixed signals much?

He scrambles to his feet awkwardly, hoping that he isn’t blushing. In vain, if the heat in his cheeks is anything to go off. Leo is looking anywhere but at him, fiddling with something in his toolbelt.

“Leo – “

But before he can say anything, Leo is turning away. He starts running off in the direction of his cabin, only pausing to yell, “Thank you” over his shoulder.

Well. Goddamn.


	2. It's a Gift

Stiles is a bit sick of this bullshit. At least with Lydia, he’d known that she didn’t like him. He’s currently feeling like a fourth grader, all because of Leo.

Leo obviously likes him, at least a little. He knows Leo’s bi as well – Erica had assured him of that (and had given him a hug. Erica’s hugs make everything better, so at least some good has come of this clusterfuck).

But seriously, Leo’s acting like he’s been forbidden from relationships by the gods or something – and although at he knows that’s not completely impossible, it doesn’t seem likely.

So Stiles is stuck. He even thought about talking to some of the other Hephaestus kids. It was a moment of insanity that he can only blame on desperation. First of all, they’d all probably rather pass kidney stones the size of golf balls than talk about anything involving feelings, and secondly, that would make Stiles feel like even more of a little kid. _”Nyssa, will you ask Boyd to tell Jason to tell Leo I totally love him?” And then Stiles will pass him a note that reads ‘do you like me? Yes/Definitely/Absolutely’ and they’ll go to prom together, then get married and adopt twenty babies._

Actually, that doesn’t sound that bad. If only reality were so kind.

Stiles figures that if he can just figure out why Leo is so opposed to connecting with people, he’ll be able to get on with his life. Or something.

*****

Stiles isn’t even thinking about following Leo around, because he feels like Chiron would just be able to _sense_ it. Though that might lead him the quickest answers about what’s going on with Leo – still not dwelling on it.

But he can’t help it if coincidences occur. He might happen to be sitting in the forgery talking to Boyd while Leo is making things. Point is, if he’s not being super creepy he shouldn’t get in trouble again.

“So… How’s being a blacksmith workin’ out for you?”

Boyd levels a look at him. Stiles barely notices because Leo’s taken his shirt off and _wow_. Leo may not being doing anything that gives Stiles deep insights into his mental state, but he sure is getting an eyeful.

“I know what you’re doing Stiles.”

“Wha – what do you mean?”

“You’re not subtle. At all.”

Stiles sniffs. “I’ll have you know that I’m so subtle, I once convinced Scott to punch himself in the face.”

“He just did that to humor you. I have no idea how you get such nice friends.” Boyd pulls out a blowtorch, probably in an attempt to escape this conversation. Stiles is not having it.

“Hey! I’m really nice!”

Boyd just snorts, like that doesn’t even deserve a reply. (It probably doesn’t.)

“Anyway… uh… how’s Erica?” When in doubt, change the subject with subtly and tact, both of which he has plenty of, thank you.

Boyd’s eyes narrow. “You spend more time with her than I do, Stiles.” There’s a world of frustration pent up in that sentence.

“Aw, is someone jealous?” Boyd shoves him off the table he perched on. Which, ouch. From the floor, Stiles yelps, “Come on man, you know I don’t like her like that!” and Boyd sighs and helps him off the ground. See, no one can resist the Stiles.

Except Lydia. He's a magnet to everyone but Lydia and Jackson - thank fuck. And the many squirrels Stiles had tried to beguile to his porch with food over the years. And now Leo. 

That thought makes Stiles look around, because Leo’s not in the spot he was before. On sweeping his eyes over the whole room, he finds that Leo’s left the building completely. 

Rats. Foiled again.

Boyd puts a hand on his shoulder.

*****

The next day, the Hermes and Hephaestus cabins have Ancient Greek together, so at least the universe is conspiring in his favor, just a little bit.

Since he already knows all the conjugations they’re going over today, he pretty much spends the entire class trying to get Leo’s attention. It fails utterly, as Leo has apparently gone back to pretending he doesn’t exist, which is just cruel. 

When class is over, Leo bolts off, and Stiles has too much dignity to go chasing after him. (Or maybe he’s just lazy. It’s 50/50.)

He ends up pacing around in the courtyard between the cabins, contemplating throwing himself at Leo’s feet and shouting ‘MY BODY IS READY,’ when Scott comes up to him and hugs the stupid ideas from his mind.

“I just want you to be as happy as me and Allison are,” he snuffles into Stiles’ neck.

Stiles feels really touched that Scott’s gotten so worked up about this. But there aren’t tears – he will go to the grave swearing it.

He hugs Scott back tightly, though he is curious about something. “Dude, you were never this emotional over the stuff with Lydia.”

Scott pulls away a little, but they’re still in a deep embrace. Now they’re staring into each other’s eyes, faces inches apart, and Stiles is aware that they probably look like a poster for a gay art house film. He’s at peace with it. “No offence, man, but I knew you and Lydia were never going to happen.” Fair. “But Leo – he _likes_ you. It should have worked out, and it just sucks that it didn’t.”

Stiles sighs. “Yeah.”

Scott leans back into the hug. “Wanna go screw around in the forest?” he asks into Stiles’ neck.

“Hell yeah.”

*****

Scott grabs Stiles some illegal snacks before they go, but opts out on that himself, eating his spare tin cans. They go to the old spot they used to hang at when Stiles first came to the camp and kick things around. It’s awesome.

To add another layer of things that cheer Stiles up, on the way out of the forest, he runs into Derek, chest deep in quick sand. Derek’s glaring in a way that suggests that he’ll kill Stiles if he doesn’t get pulled out within the next twelve seconds, so Stiles only takes about five minutes to laugh his head off before pulling him out.

Overall, he’s feeling pretty good about life, despite Derek smacking him in the back of the head.

*****

The next day gifts him with interaction with Leo. Awkward, awkward interaction.

Finstock must either really hate Stiles, or think he's doing him a favor. Actually, it's more likely that he's decided to become one with nature by rubbing tree sap all over his skin and wearing bark for clothes and thus has no idea what's gone on in the camp lately, but sometimes Stiles likes to pretend the world revolves around him. 

Why, why, _why_ had Finstock decided to oversee their archery lessons today? He's one of the more asshole-ish older satyr's, but unlike the rest of them, he actually leaves whatever their mystical meeting place on occasion (probably 'cause he's not three hundred pounds over weight like the rest of them). He also thinks he's some kind of hero training genius. Add that to the levels of batshit insane with a good dose of bullheadedness and you get a force that no one is willing to stand up to. So he'll turn up at random camp activities and completely take over, ignoring anything and everything the cabin leader may have to say about it. Today, the Hermes, Hephaestus, Demeter and Apollo are practicing together. 

Stiles hadn't been worried about it too much about the likelihood of ending up partnered with Leo, but he forgot that this is his life. Because he is paired with Leo. Normally, he'd say that a good chance to talk with him would be worth it, even under forced circumstances, but why did it have to be archery? If there's one thing he's even worse at than sword fighting, it's archery. He usually doesn't go to practice, but today he'd been a bit worried that he was gonna get in trouble 'cause of how much he's been skipping lately. 

But now he gets to look like a complete dumbass in front of someone he'd really like to impress. 

It's not likely that Leo hasn't heard of how bad Stiles is at archery. He's pretty well know for his destructive tendencies on the training field. Those battle instincts they'd promised him he'd get as he matured? Haha, not even on the horizon of development. The only thing he's semi-capable in is hand-to-hand with no weapons, mostly because he doesn't have to coordinate anything besides his own body and also because he is more than willing to fight dirty and brutal. Why couldn't he have ended up partnered with Leo for that?

Oh, now Stiles is having sexy play fighting fantasies. Crap. Back to sucking at archery.

Next to him, Leo is stringing up a bow, looking about as stoic as Stiles has ever seen him. Stiles is staring at him rather unabashedly, because he knows not the word shame. 

Leo glances sideways at him, and then looks away, and yup, there's a blush gracing his wonderful olive cheeks. Stiles has made someone else blush. Any awkwardness is officially worth it.

What to say, what to say... "What's shakin', bacon?" He is dead sexy.

Startlingly, Leo says nothing. He looks like he wants to laugh but it fighting it as hard as he can.

Leo's stringing up his bow when Stiles says, "I see your smile, hiding under that adorable little frown there." He not only is rewarded by Leo's smile but with his full-bodied laughter, shoulders shaking and eyes crinkling around the edges.

Unfortunately, that also causes him to hit himself in the face with his bow. Between them, Stiles and Leo probably cause more harm to themselves than a bus full of kids who attempted suicide.

That's insensitive, isn't it?

Stiles grins lopsidedly. "See, you know you love me."

Leo stops laughing abruptly and gets this serious face on. _Oh shit._ "Look." He swallows. "I - " He looks a little ill, but charges on. "I don't like you."

"What? Dude - "

Whatever Stiles was going to say is completely ignored. "I know I might have given you the wrong idea, but - I'm not interested in you. At all. Okay?"

Stiles contemplates saying, "Your in denial, crocodile," but thinks the better of it. Mostly because at this point, he's starting to think Leo might be telling the truth. Still... "Come on, Leo, can we just talk about it or - "

"No!" Leo's starting to look a little wild. "I don't want to talk to you! Why can't you just get that through your head?"

Then he storms away, throwing his bow to the ground. And now Stiles feels like Bella Swan. Just. Just fuck his life.

Stiles' mood is in no way improved by Finstock yelling at him. "Wow, Stilinski, I know it's a natural reaction for people to run away from you, but this is just getting ridiculous."

Stiles runs a hand across his face. "Thanks."

*****

Stiles fully intends to crawl into bed and stuff his face with illegal packages of Cheetos while feeling sorry for himself, but those plans are interrupted.

Nyssa, one of Leo's siblings, literally has him pinned to a wall at the moment. Stiles is having a hard time reacting to this.

"What did you do to Leo?" she hisses in his face, which - what?

"You're seriously slamming the wrong person around here, okay? I didn't do anything to him! Whoever you're getting your from info, lady, I'm fairly sure they're not reliable."

She backs off a bit, but she still looks fierce. It's just plain weird - Stiles didn't think she showed emotions beyond anger and maybe disgust, but here she is. Defending her brother.

She sighs. "All I know is that ever since he started talking to you, he's been depressed."

Stiles shrugs wildly. "Look, I dunno. I just thought he might be into me, so I just made myself available. If that makes him depressed, then I'm sorry."

Nyssa looks confused. "Whatever," she mutters. "Just... get your shit together, Stilinski." She then walks away.

Wow. Way to blame the victim.

*****

Stiles is having a crisis and finding constellations on the wood ceiling simultaneously, because he's a multitasker like that.

On the one hand, logic. 

On the other, his very nature.

An unstoppable force meets an immovable object, if he may say so himself.

He knows - _knows_ \- that he should just give up on it. Leo is adamant that they're never going to happen. Every time Stiles tries to get close, he gets shoved away. Even if his sneaking suspicion that Leo is completely bullshitting about not being into him, there's some barrier keeping them apart.

And that is what irks him. If it was just another unrequited crush, he's just put on his big boy pants and move on - eventually. But because he knows there's really something there... well. It had taken him years and years to get over Lydia and she'd never shown an inkling that he exists. This is even worse, in some ways. 

So logically, to keep himself from being hurt, he should completely forget about the last week's whirlwind of feelings. Considering his past actions with Lydia and the fact that, you know, Leo will actually talk to him, it doesn't seem likely that he'll forget about _anything_ , much less Leo, and his jokes, not to mention his abs.

Stiles must be some sort of machocist.

*****

It's ironic that Stiles finds out Leo's secret by complete coincidence. And, when he thinks about it, utter random luck.

He wasn't sleeping very well, tossing and turning, so he'd decided to continue his pattern of rule breaking behavior and go out for a walk, clear his head. And he'd stumbled onto Leo. Standing in the middle of the blazing hearth in the courtyard.

He looks... peaceful, like he doesn't usually, as if a tension that's usually just under his skin has been drained away. His eyes are closed and he occasionally dips his arms down into the flames. He's wearing cargo shorts; the hem seems to have caught on fire.

Leo opens his eyes and looks at his hands, scooping up some of the fire in them. It burns readily in his palms, and his serenity falls away. He looks older somehow, and deeply, achingly sad. He turns to the right and says something to a girl, who looks like she must be a new camper - around twelve, and Stiles doesn't think he's ever seen her before.

Stiles suddenly feels like he's intruding and decides to leave, but at that very second, Leo notices him. 

His eyes widen and abruptly the fire goes out completely. A sort of terror spreads over is face and he stumbles out of the fire place, almost falling backwards onto his backside. 

Stiles tries to call out to him but it comes out a whisper, and he has to watch as Leo runs away from him. He doesn't even try to run after him; he's too busy processing what he just saw.

He thinks this might explain somethings. Heartbreaking ones if he dwells on it.

When Stiles had first learned about the supernatural, he'd gotten his hands on every single piece of legend, even ones that weren't Greek, 'cause hey, you never know. At first it had been internet research on his laptop, but after pestering Chiron for weeks his second year at camp, he was allowed to go through the old texts on demigod history in the Big House. And so he knows the entire lore and history of the children of Hephaestus that are gifted with pyrokinesis. It's... it's not pretty.

For one thing, there's a good chance that one of them set off Vesuvius. That's the first recorded mention of one of them in a historic text. Not an auspicious start. The last one to be confirmed as a real son of Hephaestus had started the Fire of London. Several forest fires were thought to have been started by one, though it was never proved.

Their births are said to foretold destruction. One of the tomes Stiles had read even went as far as to say they were the albatross that signaled the ending of an age.

All that, which Leo had undoubtedly heard, combined with the look on his face when he stared into the fire... Yeah, Stiles can see why he's trying to lead a life of celibacy. 

And for a few seconds, Stiles is tempted to leave him to it. 

But no, that's wrong, for a lot of reasons. There are only four recorded instances of the pyrokinetics causing havoc, and hey, maybe even that isn't accurate. For all he really knows, it never happened at all. He only has old books to go off of.

And he knows Leo is a good guy. He wouldn't hurt anyone, at least not intentionally. From what Stiles understands, it's losing control due to extreme negative emotion that causes them to start a bonfire rather than any kind of malevolence. Under what sort of logic would it make sense for Leo to be isolated, lonely and miserable? That would just make him unstable.

But Leo... Something must have happened, Stiles thinks, beyond simply learning the implications of his powers, for him to be so afraid of allowing people close. God, he doesn't even have friends outside of Piper, who most likely knows his secret. He's probably worried about hurting people - or about being rejected if his ability is made known. Suddenly, Stiles realizes something: Leo is one of the kids who stays at camp all year. Well, he already knew that - Stiles himself stays a bit longer than normal 'cause he's fairly attractive monster bait, and these days he only goes home to visit Dad for months at a time; he's been taking classes online.

But he's fairly sure that he once heard something about Leo not having anywhere to go home to. No mother, aunt wouldn't take him in, along those lines. This is all painting a pretty painful picture for him.

He walks over to the hearth, staring into the ashes of the previously blazing fire. Oh fuck, what's he going to _do_?

"You've always liked my domain," says a voice, and Stiles looks up, alarmed. He sees the girl Leo was talking to from before sitting on one of the benches. She's very... welcoming, somehow, in her soft brown dress and warm eyes. "You noticed me more than the other campers as well - but then, you notice everything, don't you? You only act on it unless it interests you enough. I don't mind that you never spoke to me. Most people overlook me. Of your little friends, only Derek ever approached me, because he knows to respect home and family. But you understand the importance of my hearth as well, I know you do."

He swallows dryly. "You're very wise for one so young."

She laughs, and it sounds like wind-chimes swaying in the air. "No need to play games with me, Eurestos. I know how fast your brain works, remember."

"You're Hestia." She's right, no need to skirt around it.

"That I am." Her warm eyes flicker, and the hearth reignites. 

"Why - why are you here? You know. Talking to me."

She grins wider. "You want to know why I'm not hovering over families eating turkey dinner and holding hands?"

"Well, no, I know gods can occupy more than one place at a time and stuff. I meant - why would you spend any of your time talking to me?"

"I like this fireplace," Hestia says simply. "The hopes of so many young people rest here. And when people are troubled, I feel that as well. I tried to tell your friend Leo that his powers could be used for good if he would only embrace them. He has chosen for years to forgo them entirely. Until tonight."

Stiles raises a brow, but before he can say anything, she softly interrupts. "It was not coincidence that allowed you to witness his powers, Eurestos, but fate."

This time he does get to quirk his eyebrow. "By which you mean you orchestrated the event."

Hestia giggles a little. "Ah, but if I am a god, does it not count as fate?"

Stiles shakes his head back, smiling and wondering if it's normal for gods to be this pleasant. Probably not. "Nope."

"That is what you think." She sombers. "Do right by the poor child." Stiles tries to deal with the weirdness of someone who looks twelve saying, "poor child" but gets distracted when she starts to fade away.

"What?" Stiles says. "That's it? No sage advice about what to say to him or anything?"

She's see through now. "No. That is something you will have to work out on your own." Over Stiles' indignant "Come on!" she says, "I have confidence that you can make it through this, Stiles." And she disappears. He whispers a thank to the spot where she was standing.

Well. He should probably try to get some sleep if he's going to try to face Leo tomorrow.

*****

The first thing Stiles thinks when he gets up the next morning is "Pancakes." It's his first thought a lot of days.

After thirty consecutive seconds of pondering pancakes - the origin of the word, their general deliciousness, how good they go with maple syrup - he thinks, "Holy crap what am I going to say to Leo?" He would be concerned about his priorities, but luckily he can blame that on the fact that it's O'Dark Thirty outside.

He rushes to breakfast hoping to find Leo, but he's not there yet. So he sits down and waits. Sort of. It involves a lot of twitching and levitating out of his seat. 

Eventually, Leo does turn up with the rest of his cabin. He looks tired - no, that's not going far enough. He looks _wrecked_. 

Stiles tries to get his attention, but Leo is mostly just staring into his food morosely. (Stiles is hoping the reason he looks so freaked is because there's no pancakes this morning.)

Leo rushes off as soon as he finishes his food. Stiles tries to follow after him but ends up standing around by the lake, feeling like a moron. He decides that this is too important to put off though, so he determines to search Leo out.

But he doesn't have to. Leo finds him, halfway back to the cabins.

They stand facing each other for a moment, Leo's eyes darting every which way and Stiles biting the inside of his cheek, repeating "Reassuring, reassuring, reassuring" in the hopes that he'll actually be able to be.

Leo suddenly blurts, "I understand if you never want to see me again, but please, could you not tell anyone? Though I'd also understand if you did because - "

"Whoa, slow down. I won't tell anyone." The look on Leo's face is pathetic in its gratitude. "And dude, I totally want to see you again, okay? Everyday would be preferable." Yeah, Stiles is a guy, but when it comes to love, how could he curb his feelings? That never leads to anything good on TV, anyway.

Leo just looks like a kicked puppy now, or maybe a baby seal whose mommy just became fur boots. "But - don't you - why aren't you - ? Don't you understand that I'm dangerous?" And yep, sounds like Stiles was right, something really awful happened to Leo when he was little.

Well. The best way to fight childhood trauma? Therapy, for one, but when you're short on therapists? Stiles has found that hugs work pretty well.

He steps forward and completely engulfs Leo in his arms. Leo squirms a little, but what he has yet to learn is that once a Stilinski latches on to something, they're pretty unlikely to let it go. "Come on," he says, " don't overestimate your badassery. You couldn't hurt a fly."

Leo sniffs, indignant, and Stiles knows he's scored a point. "I'll have you know I could kill at least five flies. Possibly a butterfly on a good day."

Stiles ruffles his messy hair and allows himself a few seconds of self-congradulation. He knows Leo isn't going to get over whatever's bothering him, anytime soon, but this? This acceptance he's feeling? That's probably a good start.

"I mean it," Stiles says quietly. "I'm not afraid of you."

"And I meant it when I said I was dangerous." Leo's starting to looked closed off again.

Stiles just scoffs. "You realize we live in a world populated with monsters with killing intent as their primary trait, right? And I hang out with Derek sometimes - have you _seen_ that guy take apart training dummies? What about your friend Piper's charm speak? Pretty scary, being able to take away free will like - "

"You don't know what I've done." The sadness has spilled back across Leo's face, and Stiles just wants to erase it permanently. 

He dares to press a soft kiss to Leo's lips. "No," he admits. "But I do know you."

*****

Later, Leo takes Stiles into the woods, to a secret bunker he'd found out there last year. He shows Stiles his inventions with a shy enthusiasm that just melts his heart.

In the the end, they get wrapped up in a blanket that Leo had brought up there months ago, and Leo tells Stiles a story.

It's a story about a little boy and his mom. They'd struggled; she was a single mother trying to run her own business and raise her child. But she was the best Mom in the world.

But there was someone else in there lives, a strange woman who sometimes babysat the boy. She did scary things, like throw him into the fireplace and give him knives to play with. And one day she'd come to the workshop and told him to start a fire. She scared him, she was hurting him, and he was only six years old. Mommy was shopping, so she didn't come when he called for her. He was so scared that he _did_ start a fire, but he hadn't meant to.

And the whole workshop burned down. With his mommy inside.

By the end of the story, Leo is shaking and Stiles isn't much better off.

They don't leave the bunker for a long time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be not afraid my lovelies! There is yet an epilogue. I promise it's a lot more light-hearted and humorous. (The ending there got relatively dark, didn't it? I just thought I built up Leo's angst enough that he needed some closure.)
> 
> I know I played fast and loose with the canon of Leo's past. I was too lazy to check The Lost Hero out of the library, so sorry about that.
> 
> Guys, Coach Finstock = Coach Hedge. It is truth!!! God, now I kinda want to ship THEM together. Think about it - Hedge calls people Cupcake, Finstock LIKES to be called cupcake. Holy crap, new crossover OTP born!!!
> 
> I’ve been thinking of doing a sequel about Derek taking a twelve year old Stiles to the camp. I dunno, there’s just a lot of potential for humor and angst there.


	3. Wrap Yourself Around Me

When Stiles and Leo walk to breakfast together the next morning holding hands, absolutely no one is surprised. Stiles isn't sure their condescending attitude of 'we knew all along you kids would do the deed' is reassuring or plain annoying. When Jackson yells "Aw, look at the love birds" like it's the height of wit, Stiles lands firmly on the side of annoying.

He's finding having to sit at a separate table from Leo painful. That's probably not a good indicator of how codependent he's likely to become. He squishes the urge to glance over at Leo after every shovel full of hash-browns ruthlessly.

When breakfast is over, he walks over to find Leo. But someone else has already found him.

"...and if you ever hurt him, I'll chop your balls off and serve them with fries to Peleus, got that?"

Erica has Leo pinned against a table, her breasts pretty much poking him in the face. If Stiles wasn't completely secure in his relationship with Leo, he might be jealous.

Aw, fuck it. He is jealous, even though she's giving Leo the cliche talk that usually comes from dads. 

"Oi," he yells out, "lay off my man!" Leo turns panicked but grateful eyes on him, and then glares at Erica and says, "Yeah. What he said."

Erica sighs and eases off, her eyes catching something in the distance. Then she says in a sing-songy tone, "Remember, I mean every word I say, and I'm more than capable of turning your life into a living hell," before _bouncing_ away. 

Stiles notes that she bounces in the direction of Boyd, who'd been doing some of his patented I'm-pining-after-Erica-and-she-flirts-with-everything-that-moves staring. Stiles also realizes that Erica never flirts with Boyd (the only exception, right there), but she does do a lot of smiling in his company - and that they're walking away from breakfast together. _Good for them._

"Come on." Stiles turns to see Leo grinning at him. "Let's go play pranks on Jackson."

Stiles grins back. "Oh, have I got some ideas for you."

*****

Two hours later, they're collapsed on the dock, reveling in the success of a prank that involved a mega phone, Leo's machinery skills and Jackson Whittmore looking like a moron.

"Oh my god, did you see the look on his face when he realized that it wasn't actually Finstock's voice?"

"Yes! He looked like the stick up his ass had finally reached his esophagus!"

"I know! We're goddamn geniuses!" They dissolve into helpless giggles, and when Stiles looks at Leo's face, open and joyful, he feels something in him settle.

They're still going over every second of it when Scott approaches with his serious face on. _Shit._

"Leo," he says gravely, looking about as threatening as is possible for a Goatman, "if you ever hurt Stiles, I will - "

Stiles waves his hands around wildly. "Erica already gave that speech, threats to Leo's nether regions and all! No need for a redux, man."

"Oh, good," Scott says, a boyish smile breaking out on his face. "Though mine was pretty impressive - I asked Allison's dad and everything."

"Dude," Stiles snorts, "he threatens people with pruning metaphors."

Scott raises an eyebrow. "And they're terrifying, aren't they?"

"Point."

"Hey," Leo says, looking more comfortable now, "you should hang out with us. We're talking about Jackson. Being humiliated publicly."

"Sounds awesome." Scott sits down, saying, "Just no kissing, 'kay? You're like my brother, Stiles, I do not need to see that."

"Dude, I spent this entire summer watching you and Allison make out. I think I can engage in a little revenge PDA." And he smacks a huge one right on Leo's lips. Scott makes a face like a four year old.

Leo mock sighs. "I see now what our relationship was built on. I'll be your trophy boyfriend, but only if I get to search through your things for blackmail material."

"Wow Stiles," Scott laughs. "He's figured you out."

"Oh shut it," Stiles grouches, so ridiculously happy that if someone looked into his soul at the moment it would probably be lined with hearts and pictures of puppies.

*****

"Stiles, I have your present over here."

"Is it your dick?"

"We've only been dating for a week and a half and you're already trying to pressure me into sex. I wonder what Chiron would say?"

"So it's not your dick then."

"Not yet... _Come over here_."

"That - you know what your sexy voice does to me Leo!"

"Yeah, it's supposed to motivate your ass to move!"

"...I'm so uncomfortably turned on right now."

"Shut up so I can give you your present."

"Pushy today. I like it."

"You're so horny all the time... Just close your eyes. There. You can open them now."

"Oh my god."

"So, do you... do you like it?"

"I think we have to break up."

"Wh - what?"

"I can't deal with it, Leo - I can't deal with having a boyfriend this perfect!"

"Stiles - "

"How I am ever supposed to measure up? I'll be an old bachelor because I could never recover from being given the perfect gift and thus lost all my self-confidence in relationships! _And it will be your fault_."

"Stiles, you're over-reacting."

"I know. It's part of my charm. You love it."

"Yeah. I do."

(The fully functional mini Batman-signal Leo made him remains by his bedside for the rest of his time at camp until he visits home and has his dad put it in a safety deposit box.)

*****

It's not like Leo is instantly over his problems. He still has nightmares, as he admits to Stiles in an intimate moment. He has a hard time getting close to people. He worries about rejection - questions his self-worth. 

But he laughs more now. Doesn't look so haunted. 

Stiles introduces him to all his friends. They go on double date type outings with Scott and Allison - and eventually Erica and Boyd, once they finally hook up. They all start becoming a sort of group, one that Isaac gets sucked into when they notice him loitering around dejectedly. Piper is still one of Leo's closest friends, but she has her own circle. She still pops in every other day. Even Derek occasionally joins them, scowling on the inside but secretly enjoying the company, according to Isaac.

By the end of the summer, they're a tight knit group. Stiles thinks life is pretty great.

*****

PS: In the fall, Stiles and Leo do sneak out to see the new _Star Wars_ movie and they do get caught. Chiron nearly destroys them with the force of his disapproval. Worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you go folks! The end. There will be a sequel entitled 'Swing Me Gently' about Stiles and Derek going to camp four years ago in a bit, but for now I hope you found this satisfactory.

**Author's Note:**

> Please don’t ask me about the Hale family and Derek’s past. For my sanity, I assume the Hale fire never happened, but whatevs. Doesn’t really matter too much to this story. 
> 
> The stuff with Erica and her godliness being repressed? BULLSHIT THAT I MADE UP LALALA CANON CAN FUCK ITSELF. I also made up the stuff about Leo hating water, cause I can do that.
> 
> (Just so you know, in my head, Derek totally adores Stiles and his little gang but never tells them so they just think he sort of tolerates them.)


End file.
